Implications of, and actions required, in the wake of the Constitutional Court judgment regarding public service and administration salary adjustments
14 March 2022
The South African Communist Party (SACP) has studied the judgment delivered by the Constitutional Court in the dispute affecting the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council’s Resolution 1 of 2018, on public service and administration salary increases.
When the matter was referred to the courts system, the SACP cautioned against relegating engagements and afterwards consistently underlined the importance of resolving this matter through negotiations. Labour relations matters of this nature require social dialogue, consensus-seeking engagement, instead of being left to the courts.
Our reading of the judgment confirms the concerns we raised, looking at the wider implications of the dispute beyond the legalistic parameters.
Therefore, we are calling further engagement between the government and the public sector unions on the more fundamental challenge of the public sector wage bill which, we believe, is at the heart of the dispute.